Amongst the top states in implementation of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Himachal Pradesh is now all set to become the first state to notify 'learning standards' set under the education program which would help improve learning among students in government schools.
The state government will soon be circulating booklets containing the learning standards set under the SSA.
The notification regarding the standards is likely to come in the next educational session in March, 2014.
SSA state project director DC Rana said, “Learning standards were set after discussion with education department, and this is a step to improve learning levels of students.”
Admitting that there has been a sharp decline in the learning levels of students, Rana, while emphasising on the need of a more accountable system, said, “As per the current system, teachers have to assess students and promote them to the next class on the basis of that assessment.”
Rana said that once the standards were notified, it would be mandatory to implement it in every school.
“Under the new system, teachers will be accountable to maintain the learning level against these standards,” added Rana.
Claiming that Himachal Pradesh would be the first state of the country to set learning standards for each class, Rana said the new criteria will go a long way in strengthening Section 29 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
{{/usCountry}}Claiming that Himachal Pradesh would be the first state of the country to set learning standards for each class, Rana said the new criteria will go a long way in strengthening Section 29 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
{{/usCountry}}“According to Section 29 of the RTE Act, quality of education has to be maintained besides right to education for every child,” said Rana.
Referring to the Section 24 of the Act, Rana said the Section allowed teachers to evaluate students, and once the standards were notified, teachers would be accountable to maintain them.
Earlier in October 2013, a baseline survey conducted by the SSA and a private agency revealed sharp decline in learning graphs of the students from class 2 to 8.
According to the survey, learning levels- particularly in mathematics, declined from 46.38% in class 2 to 28.67% in class 8. What was shocking was that 58% to 80% of students of class 7 failed to do any mathematical operations.